National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; donated to the people of the United States of America by the Richard Nixon Foundation

Object number

NPG.72.2

Exhibition Label

Thirty-seventh president, 1969–1974

Coming of political age during the Cold War, Richard Nixon used national security issues to gain prominence in Congress and later served as Eisenhower’s vice president. After he lost both the election for the presidency, in 1960, and the race for California governor, in 1962, it seemed as though his career may have peaked in the 1950s. However, as the Democratic Party unraveled over such topics as the Vietnam War and civil rights, Nixon won the presidency in 1968.

During his tenure, which was cut short, he focused on foreign policy, particularly with regard to ending the Vietnam War and establishing a relationship with China. The scandal over the Watergate break-in and the subsequent cover-up morphed into a crisis over presidential misconduct, and in 1974, he became the first—and so far the only—president to resign.

In 1968, Look magazine hired Norman Rockwell to portray the newly elected president. Admitting that Nixon’s appearance was troublesomely elusive, Rockwell chose to intentionally flatter him. If he was going to err in his portrayal, he said, he wanted it to be in the direction that would please his subject.